diff --git a/src/components/avatar/editable.rs b/src/components/avatar/editable.rs
index de48a6e5..e5241e93 100644
--- a/src/components/avatar/editable.rs
+++ b/src/components/avatar/editable.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ use super::{AvatarData, AvatarImage};
 use crate::{
     components::{ActionButton, ActionState},
     toast,
-    utils::{expression, media::image::load_image},
+    utils::{
+        expression,
+        media::image::{load_image, ImageDimensions},
+    },
 };
 
 /// The state of the editable avatar.
@@ -73,6 +76,8 @@ mod imp {
         #[template_child]
         pub stack: TemplateChild<gtk::Stack>,
         #[template_child]
+        pub temp_avatar: TemplateChild<adw::Avatar>,
+        #[template_child]
         pub button_remove: TemplateChild<ActionButton>,
         #[template_child]
         pub button_edit: TemplateChild<ActionButton>,
@@ -332,8 +337,20 @@ impl EditableAvatar {
         self.imp().remove_sensitive.set(sensitive);
     }
 
+    /// The dimensions of the avatar in this widget.
+    fn avatar_dimensions(&self) -> ImageDimensions {
+        let scale_factor = self.scale_factor();
+        let avatar_size = self.imp().temp_avatar.size();
+        let size = (avatar_size * scale_factor) as u32;
+
+        ImageDimensions {
+            width: size,
+            height: size,
+        }
+    }
+
     async fn set_temp_image_from_file(&self, file: gio::File) {
-        let paintable = load_image(file).await.ok();
+        let paintable = load_image(file, Some(self.avatar_dimensions())).await.ok();
         self.set_temp_image(paintable);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/components/avatar/editable.ui b/src/components/avatar/editable.ui
index d5fd21b9..1566fdaa 100644
--- a/src/components/avatar/editable.ui
+++ b/src/components/avatar/editable.ui
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
               <object class="GtkStackPage">
                 <property name="name">temp</property>
                 <property name="child">
-                  <object class="AdwAvatar">
+                  <object class="AdwAvatar" id="temp_avatar">
                     <property name="size">128</property>
                     <property name="show-initials">true</property>
                     <binding name="text">
diff --git a/src/components/avatar/image.rs b/src/components/avatar/image.rs
index 4bca17eb..dfb15d60 100644
--- a/src/components/avatar/image.rs
+++ b/src/components/avatar/image.rs
@@ -199,7 +199,12 @@ impl AvatarImage {
     async fn load_inner(&self, uri: OwnedMxcUri) {
         let client = self.session().client();
         let info = self.info();
+
         let needed_size = self.needed_size();
+        let dimensions = ImageDimensions {
+            width: needed_size,
+            height: needed_size,
+        };
 
         let downloader = ThumbnailDownloader {
             main: ImageSource {
@@ -210,10 +215,7 @@ impl AvatarImage {
             alt: None,
         };
         let settings = ThumbnailSettings {
-            dimensions: ImageDimensions {
-                width: needed_size,
-                height: needed_size,
-            },
+            dimensions,
             method: Method::Crop,
             animated: true,
             prefer_thumbnail: true,
@@ -221,7 +223,7 @@ impl AvatarImage {
 
         match downloader.download_to_file(&client, settings).await {
             Ok(file) => {
-                let paintable = load_image(file).await.ok();
+                let paintable = load_image(file, Some(dimensions)).await.ok();
                 self.imp().set_paintable(paintable);
             }
             Err(error) => error!("Could not fetch avatar: {error}"),
diff --git a/src/components/media/content_viewer.rs b/src/components/media/content_viewer.rs
index ca740d42..105663d0 100644
--- a/src/components/media/content_viewer.rs
+++ b/src/components/media/content_viewer.rs
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ impl MediaContentViewer {
             .unwrap_or_default();
 
         match content_type {
-            ContentType::Image => match load_image(file).await {
+            ContentType::Image => match load_image(file, None).await {
                 Ok(texture) => {
                     self.view_image(&texture);
                     return;
diff --git a/src/session/view/content/room_details/history_viewer/visual_media_item.rs b/src/session/view/content/room_details/history_viewer/visual_media_item.rs
index 0a668217..5aaab794 100644
--- a/src/session/view/content/room_details/history_viewer/visual_media_item.rs
+++ b/src/session/view/content/room_details/history_viewer/visual_media_item.rs
@@ -162,12 +162,13 @@ mod imp {
 
             let scale_factor = self.obj().scale_factor();
             let size = (THUMBNAIL_SIZE * scale_factor) as u32;
+            let dimensions = ImageDimensions {
+                width: size,
+                height: size,
+            };
 
             let settings = ThumbnailSettings {
-                dimensions: ImageDimensions {
-                    width: size,
-                    height: size,
-                },
+                dimensions,
                 method: Method::Scale,
                 animated: false,
                 prefer_thumbnail: false,
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@ mod imp {
                 }
             };
 
-            match load_image(file).await {
+            match load_image(file, Some(dimensions)).await {
                 Ok(paintable) => {
                     self.picture.set_paintable(Some(&paintable));
                 }
diff --git a/src/session/view/content/room_history/message_row/visual_media.rs b/src/session/view/content/room_history/message_row/visual_media.rs
index 4a91a324..d1d77e48 100644
--- a/src/session/view/content/room_history/message_row/visual_media.rs
+++ b/src/session/view/content/room_history/message_row/visual_media.rs
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ impl MessageVisualMedia {
                     }
                 };
 
-                match load_image(file).await {
+                match load_image(file, None).await {
                     Ok(paintable) => {
                         let child =
                             if let Some(child) = imp.media.child().and_downcast::<gtk::Picture>() {
diff --git a/src/utils/media/image.rs b/src/utils/media/image.rs
index 77d93fca..82a9b61a 100644
--- a/src/utils/media/image.rs
+++ b/src/utils/media/image.rs
@@ -73,11 +73,32 @@ async fn image_reader(file: gio::File) -> Result<glycin::Image<'static>, glycin:
 }
 
 /// Load the given file as an image into a `GdkPaintable`.
-pub async fn load_image(file: gio::File) -> Result<gdk::Paintable, glycin::ErrorCtx> {
+///
+/// Set `request_dimensions` if the image will be shown at specific dimensions.
+/// To show the image at its natural size, set it to `None`.
+pub async fn load_image(
+    file: gio::File,
+    request_dimensions: Option<ImageDimensions>,
+) -> Result<gdk::Paintable, glycin::ErrorCtx> {
     let image = image_reader(file).await?;
 
+    let frame_request = request_dimensions.map(|request| {
+        let image_info = image.info();
+
+        let original_dimensions = ImageDimensions {
+            width: image_info.width,
+            height: image_info.height,
+        };
+
+        original_dimensions.to_image_loader_request(request)
+    });
+
     let (image, first_frame) = spawn_tokio!(async move {
-        let first_frame = image.next_frame().await?;
+        let first_frame = if let Some(frame_request) = frame_request {
+            image.specific_frame(frame_request).await?
+        } else {
+            image.next_frame().await?
+        };
         Ok((image, first_frame))
     })
     .await
@@ -374,6 +395,16 @@ impl ImageDimensions {
 
         Some(self.resize(thumbnail_dimensions, ResizeStrategy::Contain))
     }
+
+    /// Convert these dimensions to a request for the image loader with the
+    /// requested dimensions.
+    pub fn to_image_loader_request(
+        self,
+        requested_dimensions: ImageDimensions,
+    ) -> glycin::FrameRequest {
+        let resized_dimensions = self.resize(requested_dimensions, ResizeStrategy::Cover);
+        glycin::FrameRequest::new().scale(resized_dimensions.width, resized_dimensions.height)
+    }
 }
 
 impl From<ImageDimensions> for BaseImageInfo {